1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the dispensing and mixing of multi-flavored drinks and semisolid foods such as milkshakes, frozen custards, slushes, slurries, and the like, and more particularly to an efficient and cost effective method of preparing a flavored shake or slurry.
2. Description of Related Art
Beverage dispensing systems are used to provide consumers with beverages that are typically a mixture of previously stored concentrate and water. Further, milk shake machines are available for use in fast-food-styled restaurants, but such machines are typically expensive. In addition, storage of product used is typically within the machine thus demanding expensive retail space for placement and convenient use.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,686 to Jarrett discloses a beverage dispensing system for providing different flavored drinks mixed from concentrate and water. Containers including the different flavors of concentrate are stored for pumping to a hand held, “bar-gun” styled, dispensing nozzle. Valves within the dispensing head control the concentrate discharge when a selected beverage is desired, and an appropriate amount of concentrate and water are discharged simultaneously to ensure that the end beverage contains the desired mixture. User operated vending machines, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,957 to Sizemore, discloses a cup-type vending system which includes a currency output device and automatically outputs a beverage into a cup in response to a payment and selection of a beverage. The vending machine includes a plurality of disposable containers of beverage syrup, such as “bag-in-box” packages, stored in an auxiliary cabinet. A dispensing system functions to draw syrup from the disposable containers and selectively dispense a predefined or selected amount of syrup into an awaiting cup. The system includes pumping stages wherein one stage draws a selected amount of syrup from a package through a feed conduit and discharges the selected amount through a nozzle into the cup.
By way of further example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,997 to Tomlinson et al. discloses a milk shake machine which include a mixer for reducing pre-frozen flavored ingredients stored within a container to a flavored milk shake with the addition of a preselected amount of milk supplied from a milk storage tank carried by the machine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,691 to Reese et al. discloses a frozen drink mixer for preparing blended beverages, particularly frozen drinks, in which an ice dispenser, liquid mix dispenser, and blender are combined into a single unit. The apparatus automatically delivers an appropriate amount of ice and liquid to the blender unit and turns on the blender at an appropriate time to prepare the frozen drink of desired size. A drink mixing and dispensing machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,007 stores a mix within a tank carried by the machine and pumps the mix through a freezing chamber prior to dispensing into a cup which is held under a mixing blade. Syrup pumps are also carried within the cabinet of the machine for dispensing one or two syrups into the cup before repositioning the cup under the mixer for dispensing and mixing the syrup with the milk shape styled mix. In the known prior art, such systems are calibrated to deliver a predetermined amount of flavoring, which obviates the possibility of serving different-volume containers.
While a variety of milk shake styled syrup dispensing and mixing devices and methods are known in the art, there remains a need for an economical method for efficiently and cost effectively providing a customer with a plurality of options for a milk shake flavored as desired by the customer, including varied sizes and flavors. Further, the currently known systems require manual holding and movement of the cup during the blending process, which in a fast-food-style environment is too time-intensive.